Review by Vladimir on March 25, 2024.

I’ve been familiar with The Obsessed for some time, but although I was generally aware of their cult status and the fact that they are considered one of the pioneers of doom metal, I never actually managed to check out these guys because I am not a doom metal fan per se. However, during my interview with legendary Bobby Liebling of Pentagram, he mentioned that he is a really big fan of the latest album by The Obsessed and he personally considers it the band’s best product they’ve ever made. Not long after, I decided to give it a go because I figured that it would be blasphemous of me to not trust Bobby’s word for it. So, without wasting any more time, let’s take a look at their fifth full-length album Gilded Sorrow that was released on February 16th, 2024. 

From the very get-go of Gilded Sorrow, we hear a lot of groove and catchiness within the tight doom metal performance of The Obsessed, expressing immense feelings of despair and apathy towards mankind. We’re off to a good start with the opening track 'Daughter Of An Echo' that shows a great deal of promise that will be filled with solid blues influenced riffs and powerful guitar solos. Despite the album being primarily focused on the catchy musical aspects, there is plenty of intense doom and gloom moments to be found, showcased on tracks such 'Gilded Sorrow', 'Stoned Back To The Bomb Age', 'Wellspring - Dark Sunshine' and 'Yen Sleep', that really aim towards that slow and heavy approach with some atmosphere in there as well. The atmosphere of Gilded Sorrow truly makes you feel like the world around you is turning to stone and colored in grey, while facing personal problems on a daily basis, and I think that the second track 'It's Not OK' says it all. Overall, there are a ton of enjoyable and awesome moments to be found on this album, varying in styles while still keeping the musical flow feel very smooth and effective. However, this entire experience is sadly led to a very sudden ending with the melodic closing track 'Lucky Free Nice Machine' that is exactly one minute long, which even though it is a solid outro to the album, it really feels like there wasn’t really a sense of a grand payoff. 

As I’ve said before, The Obsessed has a lot of groove and blues influences in their songs, with both dynamics and simplicity playing a big part in their music. There are a lot of standout moments throughout the entire album, and on my listening, I became personally connected to the third track 'Realize A Dream' because it truly resonates something that can latch onto anyone who considers the work of The Obsessed to be more than just music. I can’t deny that I truly felt like there is a story to be told throughout the album, and if you pay close attention to Wino’s vocals, you can definitely hear that he succeeds in conveying heavy emotions and personal frustration. The heaviness may be in the riffs, but it also may be in the album’s themes that Wino expresses. On the final note, the sound production of Gilded Sorrow is very solid and thick, providing a very heavy and chunky guitar tone with the familiar fuzz being snuck in there as well, which I think is best heard on the fifth track 'Stoned Back To The Bomb Age'. 

I have to say that even though I personally felt that Gilded Sorrow could have been just a little bit better to be exactly the way I like it, nevertheless I did end up enjoying the album as a whole. I think that The Obsessed's game is pretty strong with this album and they are certainly not holding back at taking their direction to the next level, and Gilded Sorrow is an exemplary album that showcases that heavy isn’t always a matter of sound, but a matter of telling a certain story. 

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Review by Felix on September 9, 2019.

Québec goes through tumultuous times in terms of music. Forteresse, Ossuaire, Délétère and further combos have emerged, and they have created their own style. But what about the "motherland" of the Franco-Canadian province? Of course, France has some competent combos, but it has not found a convincing answer to the sound of Québec so far. However, maybe things are starting to move now. Neptrecus from Paris have released their third work and it delivers some parallels to the sound of the aforementioned bands without copying the style slavishly.

The quartet presents seven songs with an average length of nearly seven minutes. The compositions focus on a good flow. Probably due to the opulent configuration, some parts show up again and again, but this stylistic device does not cause any damage due to two reasons. Firstly, a certain weakness for repetition is an immanent element of this style, secondly, more or less all of the repeated sequences hit the bull's eye. Abrupt breaks do not occur, but organic tempo changes or silent intermezzos with acoustic guitars are not forbidden.

Those of you who know the movement in Québec will not be surprised that Neptrecus avoid English. They prefer their mother tongue and the French language affects the overall sound in a positive way. It appears as the natural and only logical choice for an album called Ars Gallica. Moreover, it distinguishes the band from 99% of its European competitors. But despite the somehow patriotic approach and a few numbers of folkloric spots, the album is also highly recommendable outside of France. Let me explain why.

Three cornerstones come to my mind when I listen to this work. Passion, energy and strength. This material is created by guys who love the music they play, no doubt about it, and they have the competence to find the right mix between uncompromising aggressiveness and less furious parts. Some more or less melodic solos, for example, make clear that Neptrecus are aware of the fact that hammering drums and tremolo picking alone are not enough to forge an outstanding output. They also occasionally add some weird melodies, for example in "Ethique de la volonté". This is not to say that the full-length lacks toughness. The heavy side of the band does not come off badly, but the nearly 48 minutes give enough space to offer both melodic understanding and brute force. High velocity, just to close the circle, also plays an important role. It shapes bullets such as "Soyons terribles pour dispenser le peuple de l'être" (and the menacing undertone of its instrumental parts is also excellent).

The fourth song suffers from an overdose of lenience and it illustrates during its last minute that melodic singing is not the core competence of the lead vocalist. But how many black metal bands have written only classics? What does the dude in the last row say? Dimmu Borgir? Okay, I don't want to go any further into that... Neptrecus, to come back to the band which is in the focus here, have created an exciting work which benefits from a proper, heavy and transparent production. Give songs such as the horrifying "Messager de l'oubli" a shot, feel the heat of the eternally blazing flame of black metal and enjoy Ars Gallica.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10